Sherri Coale's Oklahoma Sooners basketball team was stunned and lost the last game of the season to the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday afternoon despite the efforts of freshman sensation Aaryn Ellenberg's game-high 16 points.
Monique Smalls scored 13 points and the Lady Raiders earned their third victory over a Top 25 team with the 61-56 win over Oklahoma (No. 17 ESPN/USA Today, No. 18 AP).
Oklahoma had nothing to be ashamed of because just two weeks ago at home, the Lady Raiders toppled then number one Baylor 56-45, and then number 20 Iowa State 61-50 three days earlier.
The Sooners (20-10, 10-6 Big 12) suffered in the game from a poor shooting effort where they went 20-of-53 from the floor and shot .377.
"We couldn't make shots," Sooners coach Sherri Coale said. "You got to make baskets. You can't win this game if you don't make baskets."
OU freshman Nicole Griffin had one of her best games of the season despite the loss, and chipped-in career high of 14 points, with seven rebounds, and two blocked shots.
Texas Tech (21-9, 8-8 Big 12) snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Sooners. The Lady Raiders won the game despite being outrebounded by a (42-32) margin.
The Sooners shot 58.3 percent in the first half and went way cold after that, making just six field goals out of the 29 they attempted in the second half, and shooting a woeful 20.7 percent from the field.
Danielle Robinson had only seven points in the game and this was her second lowest total of the season. But Robinson's three field goals in the game tied her with Phylesha Whaley (1997-2000) for the third most made in OU history with 777.
The Sooners will have to shake off this loss before they begin Big 12 Conference tournament play in the second round on Wednesday March 9th.
The Sooners still have the luxury of a bye and will play the winner of the first round game between Oklahoma St. and Texas Tech on Tuesday.
This should bode well for Coale's Sooners from a scouting perspective since these are the last two teams that they faced in the regular season.
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